V: The Iron Curtain explained

What happens

Themes in this chapter

• Identity and Disguise

  The public and press debate whether Don Luis Perenna is actually Arsène Lupin, highlighting themes of hidden identity and disguise.

• Crime and Punishment

  The series of murders and the investigation into Marie Fauville underscore the theme of crime and the pursuit of justice.

• Intelligence and Cunning

  Perenna's quick thinking and investigative skills are contrasted with the trap set by the iron curtain, showcasing cunning on both sides.

Characters to notice

• Don Luis Perenna

  Receives a phone call from Mazeroux about the arrest operation and Marie Fauville's suicide attempt; is trapped by a falling iron curtain; later reads newspapers with Mlle. Levasseur.

• Florence Levasseur

  Listens to Perenna's phone call with a distraught expression; later brings newspapers and questions Marie Fauville's guilt.

• Sergeant Mazeroux

  Calls Perenna to inform him of the planned arrest and Marie Fauville's suicide attempt.

• Marie Fauville

  Reported to have attempted suicide; maintains a stance of ignorance during police examinations.

• Arsène Lupin

  Public speculation identifies Don Luis Perenna as Lupin; his supposed death and subsequent reappearance are discussed.

• Alexandre

  Calls Perenna from a wine shop to report on the suspect's movements.

Key passages

• “It is sometimes an ungrateful task to tell the story of Arsène Lupin’s life, for the reason that each of his adventures is partly known to the public, having at the time formed the subject of much eager comment, whereas his biographer is obliged, if he would throw light upon what is not known, to begin at the beginning and to relate in full detail all that which is already public property.”

  Telling Lupin's story is difficult because much is already public, so the biographer must start from the beginning to reveal unknown details.

  The narrator explains the challenge of recounting Lupin's adventures due to prior public knowledge.

• “The same person had made the identical sinister bite, leaving against himself or herself, with a heedlessness that seemed to show the avenging hand of fate, a most impressive and incriminating proof, a proof which made people shudder as they would have shuddered at the awful reality: the marks of his or her teeth, the teeth of the tiger!”

  The killer left the same bite marks at each crime scene, a chilling clue that seemed like fate's revenge.

  The distinctive bite marks are highlighted as a key piece of evidence linking the murders.

• “And here was Arsène Lupin coming to life again! For the public made no mistake about that, and, with wonderful intuition, proclaimed aloud that Don Luis Perenna was Arsène Lupin, before a close examination of the facts had more or less confirmed the supposition.”

  The public immediately recognized Don Luis Perenna as Arsène Lupin, even before the facts fully supported it.

  Public intuition identifies Perenna as Lupin, setting up the identity theme.

• “He quickly hung up the receiver and turned on his heel to leave the telephone box. The next moment he had flung himself against the farther wall. Just as he was about to pass out he had heard something click above his head and he but barely had the time to leap back and escape being struck by an iron curtain which fell in front of him with a terrible thud.”

  After hanging up, Perenna narrowly avoided being crushed by a falling iron curtain that dropped in front of him.

  The iron curtain trap is sprung, trapping Perenna in the telephone box.

• “Why do they not arrest him? Why go against logic and prolong an unnatural situation which no decent man can understand? This is the question which everybody is asking and to which our investigations enable us to furnish a precise reply.”

  An article questions why Perenna hasn't been arrested, suggesting the situation defies logic.

  Public pressure mounts for Perenna's arrest, reflecting the theme of justice.